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Saturday, April 30, 2016

The Gladiator and the Guard by Annie Douglass LimaI'm excited to announce that my young adult action and adventure novel, The Gladiator and the Guard, is now available for purchase! This is the second book in the Krillonian Chronicles, sequel to The Collar and the Cavvarach. First Things First: a Little Information about Book 1:

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is desperate to see his little sister freed. But only victory in the Krillonian Empire's most prestigious tournament will allow him to secretly arrange for Ellie's escape. Dangerous people are closing in on her, however, and Bensin is running out of time. With his one hope fading quickly away, how can Bensin save Ellie from a life of slavery and abuse?

What is the Collar for, and What is a Cavvarach?

The story is set in a world very much like our own, with just a few major differences. One is that slavery is legal there. Slaves must wear metal collars that lock around their neck, making their enslaved status obvious to everyone. Any slave attempting to escape faces the dilemma of how and where to illegally get their collar removed (a crime punishable by enslavement for the remover). Another difference is the popularity of a martial art called cavvara shil. It is fought with a cavvarach (rhymes with "have a rack"), a weapon similar to a sword but with a steel hook protruding from partway down its top edge. Competitors can strike at each other with their feet as well as with the blades. You win in one of two ways: disarming your opponent (hooking or knocking their cavvarach out of their hands) or pinning their shoulders to the mat for five seconds.

And now, The Gladiator and the Guard, with another awesome cover by the talented Jack Lin!

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is just one victory away from freedom. But after he is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he is condemned to the violent life and early death of a gladiator. While his loved ones seek desperately for a way to rescue him, Bensin struggles to stay alive and forge an identity in an environment designed to strip it from him. When he infuriates the authorities with his choices, he knows he is running out of time. Can he stand against the cruelty of the arena system and seize his freedom before that system crushes him?

Annie Douglass Lima spent most of her childhood in Kenya and later graduated from Biola University in Southern California. She and her husband Floyd currently live in Taiwan, where she teaches fifth grade at Morrison Academy. She has been writing poetry, short stories, and novels since her childhood, and to date has published twelve books (two YA action and adventure novels, four fantasies, a puppet script, and five anthologies of her students’ poetry). Besides writing, her hobbies include reading (especially fantasy and science fiction), scrapbooking, and international travel.

“It isn’t quite like I expected here,” Bensin admitted. He had been lashed three times that morning, and in addition to the fiery welts under his shirt, he still felt trembly from the electric shocks. Whips like that ought to be illegal.

Everyone in earshot chuckled. “It isn’t like anyone expects,” another man told him. “You think people out there have any idea what our lives are like? Nobody would want to be a glad if they knew. All you see before you’re here is the glorious side of it, the combat out on the sand, not the everyday side, with the dartblowers and shockwhips and kravicks for trainers.”

“You’ll get used to it, though,” Fifty assured Bensin. “The first couple weeks are the worst. ’Course, it never really gets easier, but eventually you just learn to live with it.”

“Until someday you don’t have to anymore,” put in the man on his other side. “You probably got three, four, maybe five years here at the most, depending how good you are, and how lucky. Then someday one of the Blues or Greens will be a split second quicker with his blade than you, and that’ll be it.”

Another serving dish appeared nearby, and Bensin reached for it, but one of the other glads pulled it away, grinning. Bensin glared and dug into his broccoli, waiting for another chance. “How long have you been here?” he asked Fifty.

The gladiator smiled, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m the current record holder. Five and a half years. Feels like that many decades.”

Thursday, April 28, 2016

The Grogoch is an Irish fairy which is attracted to human homes. They look like little old men with very smelly reddish hair. It will help out by secretly doing all sorts of chores, usually during the night. You can keep your Grogoch happy by feeding it with a bowl of milk.

Teutor, the Grogoch in Applegate Farm, the latest book in the Antrim Cycle, is lovable and a good friend to the children who live at Applegate Farm.

What a fun and sexy book! Demon Within is the first book in the Fallen Angels Series by author Julie Nicholls. The book starts when an angel falls in love with a human and is sent to eternal damnation.
The scene switches to Kai, a former slave who now rules Blackhill, a town near Darkmide where he was formerly a slave in the gold mines. He rebelled and defeated his former masters, closing down the gold mines and freeing the slaves. His close friend, Sabe, is also his closest advisor as well as Sabe's sister, Kiera. When Sabe advises him to make an alliance with King Garlan from the nearby kingdom of Brightstone by marrying the king's daughter, Eloise, Kai agrees.
Eloise has a secret power and though a little shy and too apt to listen to her brother, Roulan, agrees to the marriage and they travel to Blackhill.
Meanwhile, Castor, Ellanor, and their son Jace are also travelling to Blackhill for an alliance with Kai. And a mysterious creature is destroying other towns around the area.
Ms. Nicholls does a wonderful job of keeping all the various characters on track and their paths intertwine in unexpected ways that end up making perfect sense. There are angels, demons, priestesses, princesses, and warriors. The love story between Kai and Eloise is wonderful, tender yet steamy. I can wait to read the next book in the series and I heartily recommend Demon Within to lovers of paranormal romances.

Tournament of Hearts: The Librarian Gladiator is the first in a planned three-book series. The town of Hamelin has a yearly ritual called the Tournament of Hearts in which four contestants are selected to fight each other to the death. Not only are the losers killed, but their entire bloodlines are wiped out as a sacrifice to the gods for a good harvest.
Neven Fairchild is the town historian and librarian whose job it is to trace genealogies and family histories. He is totally unsuited to fight in the Tournament, but has been selected nonetheless, along with his friend, Talpus, a girl warrior named Reoni, and an old man named Kreinveck. Needless to say, things don't look good for Neven.
Klakthorn, the evil Councillor who has been running the Tournament has his own motives for what should happen. There are also flying beasts called Jagisado and one in particular named Smoke who are ravaging the countryside, but also seem to be helping Neven.
The world building here is wonderful, but there is a lot of detail and characters. I got confused sometimes with everything that is going on. There is a lot of fighting and it can be a bit gory in places. This is a book well worth reading however as it goes places you'd never expect (I don't want to give too much away). Neven is an interesting hero, certainly not a warrior, but not quite the nerd you might expect him to be. Warning: the book does end on a cliffhanger, but the next book should be out soon.

Caoimhe is a warrior in the principality of Rhywn. She is somewhat feared because the circumstances of her life have been scarred by a malign force that has followed her always, unbeknownst to her. The story is told in first person from Caoimhe's point of view and starts with a bang as she and a fellow hunter named Joss have to find and kill some wolves that have been killing children in the village. At least one of the wolves is supernatural, changing briefly into a man at the end of their battle.
Caoimhe's story is revealed gradually in flashbacks of her life. Her grandfather was the only relative who cared for her until her little sister Meryn comes along. Even her life with her little sister is marred by horrible circumstances, but I don't want to give away too much of the story.
Caoimhe is a fascinating woman, tough as a warrior must be, yet always dogged by the curse on her life. The rest of the characters are also engaging. Be prepared for a lot of swashbuckling in an excellent read.Link to Amazon

The Black Swans - winner of 2015 IndieB.R.A.G. medallion, 2015 finalist in the WishingShelf Independent Book Awards, and on the 2015 Drunken Druid Short List."The Black Swans" is a charming and enchanting read that stays true to the tale it was based on, but keeps it fresh and relevant for the new generation of readers." Markus Book Reviewshttp://www.amazon.com/Black-Swans-Tale-Antrim-Cycle-ebook/dp/B00U6I9PUC

Free Short Stories: The Story of Gilly Flowers and The Oak King and The Holly King

This time 28 great Fantasy Authors have banded together to bring you an awesome prize.

What prize?

Maybe I should've said PRIZES!

That's right, the winner of this giveaway gets a $50 Amazon.com certificate AND an ebook bundle of 28 wonderful flinch free fantasy novels.

Why flinch free? We're all members of the Clean Indie Reads Site which means while not all our books are for children, you won't find anything more graphic than a low PG-13 rating. So if you're a parent with active teen readers or just enjoy your fiction without a lot of graphic violence, sex, or language, this is a great giveaway for you to enter.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

“You won’t need to break out your torches and pitchforks to hunt for your next Sci-Fi/Fantasy read! Rachel Faugno’s THE WITCHING TIME chronicles a famous witch hunt and is jam-packed with elements of suspense, supernatural and steamy love affairs.”

– RomanticTimes Book Reviews

Blurb: Caroline Burdick is still mourning the death of her toddler son when she inherits an isolated old house from her great aunt Hetty, a woman she barely knew. But the unexpected windfall comes with a catch: she must live in the house for six months to claim her inheritance. Set on a lonely hilltop in Brookfield, Massachusetts, the house terrifies Caroline, as does her aunt’s menacing companion Sarah Stratton, who has stayed on as housekeeper. Even more disturbing are the repeated appearances of Bathsheba Spooner, a distant relative who was hanged for murder in 1778, and the discovery that Hetty was high priestess of an ancient coven of witches.

The only light amidst the darkness is a beautiful young man named Eddy Ross, with whom Caroline falls helplessly in love. But that fleeting joy cannot save her from the deadly maelstrom of witchcraft and family secrets that shatter her world.Available on AmazonFrom the Author:

When I moved to Brookfield, Massachusetts, around 1975, one of the first bits of local history I heard about was the murder of Joshua Spooner by his wife, Bathsheba. A well-to-do resident of Brookfield, Bathsheba was hanged for the crime in 1778, making her the first woman executed in the newly formed United States.

The murder caused a sensation, in part because she was the daughter of a prominent Tory who was forced to flee when the American Revolution broke out. She was also five months’ pregnant with her teen-aged lover’s child. To many observers, the unwillingness to delay the execution until after the child was born – four months elapsed between the murder and the hanging – seemed like a vindictive expression of anti-Tory fervor. Legal precedent held that pregnant convicts should be allowed to deliver their child before being sent to the gallows.

Over the years, Bathsheba has garnered much sympathy, seen by some as a victim of her times. She has been the subject of books and articles, and to this day visitors make the trek to the scene of the crime, which is clearly marked, and to the local cemetery, where Joshua’s headstone bluntly names his wife as his murderer.

I myself became intrigued by her story. During the years that I was raising a family and working at various jobs, an idea for a novel percolated in the back of my mind: What if the spirit of Bathsheba was searching for someone to give birth to the child whose life was cut short? What if a distant relative came to Brookfield in modern times and was visited by Bathsheba? What if that relative – I chose to call her Caroline – learned that Bathsheba had belonged to a coven of witches still in existence? What if Caroline was slowly drawn into that coven? And what if her life began to mirror Bathsheba’s own?

The elements for the story eventually came together, and in 2014 I began working on what eventually became THE WITCHING TIME. I had written other novels (none very good and none published), but this one grabbed me right from the start. It seemed almost as if the characters were telling their own story. Many of the plot twists came as a surprise even to me. And throughout Caroline’s journey of self-discovery, I learned things about her that I hadn’t known at the beginning.

Looking back, I can say that I learned a lot of things during the process of writing this book – a little bit about history and a little bit about witchcraft. More importantly, I learned that writing fiction is an adventure, in that you’re never completely sure where your characters will lead you. That element of unpredictability is what makes the arduous task of writing a novel so much fun!

Monday, April 18, 2016

Other writers often say that they want their work to reflect their own "voice", but what does that mean? I've been thinking about it a lot lately.

Tone + Mood + Style = Voice

Tone
There is a famous quote from Dorothy Parker: 'Don't look at me in that tone of voice.' Tone is exactly that, the attitude of each POV the author conveys where they appear in the story. The author achieves tone by word choice, sentence construction, and focus of the POV. I also think it depends on genre to a degree. YA Contemporary writing is more casual than Regency Romance; having your character say 'Cool' or 'Awesome' in a Regency novel would be jarring (wrong word choice). A fantasy set in a medieval setting or historical fiction story may generate dialogue that is a little more formal. The focus should remain the same throughout the scene. Set the tone and be consistent.
Each POV should have his own tone. It's a great way to differentiate between different POVs.

Some examples:"Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world." This sentence is from the beginning of Frankenstein and sets the ominous tone for the rest of the story.

"I didn’t go to the moon, I went much further—for time is the longest distance between two places." This line sets a nostalgic tone from The Glass Menagerie.

Mood

Mood is the atmosphere that the writer communicates to the reader to set the atmosphere of the story. Is the scene light-hearted or dark? Emotional or unfeeling? As the mood changes from scene to scene, it is a good idea to change the mood in those scenes gradually, at least, most of the time. There may be some shock value that you as the writer wish to exploit in going from a comic moment to a death scene, but generally you want to lead up to the new mood.

Some Examples from Wuthering Heights shows the difference in mood invoked by descriptions of the two houses, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Each time Emily Bronte references one or the other, she is consistent in the mood she applied.

“There was no moon, and everything beneath lay in misty darkness: not a light gleamed from any house, far or near all had been extinguished long ago: and those at Wuthering Heights were never visible…” moody and dark

“Gimmerton chapel bells were still ringing; and the full, mellow flow of the beck in the valley came soothingly on the ear. It was a sweet substitute for the yet absent murmur of the summer foliage, which drowned that music about the Grange when the trees were in leaf.” serene and peaceful

Style

Style goes hand-in-hand with both Tone and Mood as a writer's style helps create those two. The words the author opts to use, the manner in which a writer creates a mood are are based on style. An author may choose to use long sentences with formal diction to enhance the style of his work depending on subject matter or genre. Or perhaps the writer may use a certain dialect or a lot of adverbs (look away Steven King if you are reading this) to bring the reader into the story. How words are arranged in a paragraph or a sentence is what makes up the author's style.
Do you use curse words or euphemisms? Lots of description vs. bare details? These are all style choices.
One thing to remember is that style is always the author'e choice. Picking the wrong style for the genre or subject matter may make a reader give up on the book. I change my style when I write for fantasy vs. romance because it's what fits the genre.

Some Examples:“I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.” Ulysses by James Joyce has a unique style"'Yes-en I's rich now, come to look at it. I owns mysef, en I's wuth eight hund'd dollars. I wisht I had de money, I wouldn' want no'.'" Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain shows the use of dialect to show Twain's style of writing.

Voice
All three of these elements, tone, mood, and style, combine to create the author's voice. This is what makes your story your own. Setting the wrong mood or tone can take the reader off track in unintended ways. Being consistent in your voice is what makes for good stories.

I think Don Fry, writing coach and author says it best:"Voice is the sum of all strategies used by the author to create the illusion that the writer is speaking directly to the reader from the page."

Saturday, April 16, 2016

The world is being torn apart for the people of Atlantis, although this isn't the tale you’re used to hearing. The royal family, including Crown Prince Kyrian, is unable to comprehend the destruction around them and in the midst of a plague. The solution seems to be a lovely young Lady named Yew'll who is immune to the plague.

The Prince was immediately enraptured by her beauty and sparks fly between the Prince and Yew'll. While King Urian is making final preparations for his people’s safety and his family, he asks Prince Urian is to come to him in a secret room in the palace before midnite with the most important thing to him.

As the Gods' fury rains down on them, the people of Atlantis must make decisions. Strange things are happening, And the room makes strange surreal.

This is not your average tale of Atlantis. Did Atlantis really disappear forever? Or did they have another place to go?

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Title: Play Fair

Series: The Devil's Share, #3

Author: L.P. Maxa

Genre: Contemporary Rockstar Romance

Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group

Release Date: April 21, 2016

Guitarist of the world-famous rock band The Devil’s Share, no one would expect Jackson Cole to have a best friend who’s a girl, but his relationship with Bryan Lawson is too special to endanger with sex…until a different girl—the waifish nine-year-old who claims he’s her father—makes Jacks realize all that truly matters.

WILD. RECKLESS. IRRESPONSIBLE. A FATHER?

Jackson Cole has been called many things: immature, irresponsible, sexy as hell. But one thing he’s never been called is “Dad”—until Child Services shows up on his doorstep with a waifish nine-year-old claiming he’s the father. What’s a rock star to do? Call your best friend, who just happens to be super hot, funny, and even more commitment-phobic than you, and beg her to help. Of course, now that his friend is living in the same house, Jacks is finding it harder and harder to keep his hands to himself.

Bryan Lawson never expected to become pals with a charming, hilarious, breathtakingly handsome rock star, but after they met backstage at one of Jacks’s concerts, she couldn’t stop texting him. He’s just the sort of person she could imagine being with forever, except that, try as she might, she’s never managed to stay interested in a relationship for more than three months. Now that Jacks is a dad, the stakes are much higher. A breakup wouldn’t just ruin their friendship, it would destroy a little girl who’s just learning to love. But maybe also the game has changed.

When I got home I headed upstairs with the intention of checking on Landry and then heading to bed. I didn’t want to wake Bryan, and I didn’t want to look too closely at the way I’d booked it out of that club. As I reached the top of the stairs I heard Bryan’s voice and Landry’s giggles. I glanced down at my watch; it was after midnight at this point. I poked my head into her room. “Hello my beautiful girls. What are y’all still doing up?”

They both smiled when they saw me, and I ignored the way my heart leapt. “You’re home.” Bryan said it like a statement. Not a question.

I grinned. “Yeah. Turns out I rather be here.”

She held up a large hardbound book. “Landry asked me to read to her and we both kind of lost track of time.” Bryan closed the book and put it on the nightstand. “It’s late sweet girl, we’ll read more tomorrow.”

I walked across the room, leaning down to kiss Landry’s forehead. “Good night, Buttercup.”

“’Night, Jacks.”

We both headed across the hall to my room and collapsed on my bed, staring at the ceiling.

Bryan lightly slapped my thigh. “You can go meet back up with Luke, if you want. She’ll be asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. No worries here, if that’s what you came home for.”

“Nah, I’m right where I want to be.” And that was the God’s honest truth.

She was quiet for a few minutes, the only sound in the room was us breathing, each struggling with the right words. Finally she moved to face me, I automatically did the same. “Good. I’m pretty happy where I am right now too.”

She was so damn pretty. I could get lost in those blue eyes of hers. I fought the urge to kiss her plump pink lips. Friends don’t kiss. And we were just friends. Maybe if I said just friends in my head enough times I’d start to believe it. “Want to watch a movie?” I didn’t want her to leave me.

She grinned, a wicked glint in her beautiful eyes. “I have a better idea.”

I shifted closer to her on the bed, playing along. “Oh yeah?”

She bit her bottom lip, nodding.

My dick strained against my zipper. He was still pissed that I’d denied him earlier, not turned on by Bryan’s flirty banter. “What did you have in mind, baby doll?”

She rolled over and grabbed a hot pink bag from the floor beside my bed. “I bought us a present today…”

I shifted onto my stomach, taking the bag from her hands and hiding my massive hard on. I pulled out the tissue paper, tossing it over my shoulder. “What?! You got Zombies 5? I didn’t even know this was out yet!”

She giggled, putting her hand over my mouth. “Shhh…you’re going to wake up Landry and this game is definitely not suitable for children.” She sat up. “I’ll go get ready for bed in Luke’s bathroom.” She paused on her way out the door. “Change clothes. You smell like sex and whiskey.”

“B…I couldn’t, I mean, I didn’t…uh, nothing happened.”

She shook her head, “Jacks, it’s none of my business. I just rather not, um, just shower, okay?”

I nodded. My heart was racing; the distress I felt at her thinking I’d been with someone else was unwelcome. And it was freaking me the fuck out. I was pacing around my room. Why did it matter so much? Why did her thinking that bother me? Probably the same damn reason I’d run out of that club like it was on fucking fire.

Because I was falling for my best friend.

Help L.P. celebrate on April 21st!

We'll do some giveaways. Swag, eBooks, Amazon Gift Card, etc...

Play Nice (The Devil's Share, #1)

Rock a stadium. Bang a chick. Repeat. As lead singer of The Devil’s Share, Dash Conner could get anything or anyone he wanted—until he met Lexi Grant.

MONEY. FAME. WHISKEY. SEX.

For Dash Conner, lead singer of The Devil’s Share, everything he wanted was his for the asking. Whiskey. Drugs. Money. Sex. But not Lexi Grant. For the first time since he picked up a guitar, a girl was actually demanding he woo her. For a chance with her, Dash would do that and more.

Lexi Grant was no groupie. Just because the biggest rock star in the world smiled at her didn’t mean she had to fall into bed with him—but it was going to be awfully hard to resist that impish smile and those tatted abs. Surely one night of fun wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Unless that night ends with a broken condom.

For Lexi and Dash, that’s just the beginning. Add an overly affectionate pit bull, a missing guitarist, a house full of sorority girls, a junkie ex-bandmate and an extreme aversion to Jäger, and it’s either a recipe for disaster or true love.

Play Dirty (The Devil's Share, #2)

As bassist of the Devil’s Share, Smith James revels in being the ultimate bad boy, until he meets a good girl…who likes it dirty.

PILLS. PAIN. LOSS. LOVE.

Smith James doesn’t need drugs. He just likes them a whole lot. And as bassist for the Devil’s Share, they are easy to come by. So are the women. With a steady supply of both he doesn’t have to think too hard about his past. But when a beautiful physician’s assistant joins the tour, Smith can’t help but want…more.

After watching her high school boyfriend OD, there is no way Dylan Lawson is going to fall for a rock star with a tenuous hold on sobriety, no matter how sexy his New Orleans drawl. She’s been hired to do one job: monitor the health of the lead singer’s girlfriend and her unborn baby. But once Smith flashes that sweet, vulnerable smile, Dylan can’t help but want…more.

And more is what they’ll get. Love on tour is never simple, and with a music festival in Smith’s hometown, a place he’s avoided for years, near his illiterate, abusive, meth-addled father, Smith is one bad night away from a relapse. But with her heart already lost, Dylan is willing to do whatever is necessary to save him—even play a little dirty.

L.P. Maxa lives in Austin Texas with her husband, daughter, 3 rescue dogs, 1 stray cat, and 1 fish that keeps dying and she keeps replacing so her toddler doesn't notice. She loves reading romance novels as much as she loves writing them.

L.P. is new to the writing game, but she has published 4 books in her first year alone. She says that inspiration can come from anywhere; a song lyric, a quote, a weekend with friends. The tiniest things spark amazing stories.